Instrument panel for aircraft



April 15,1930 c. E. JOHNSON INSTRUMENT PANEL FOR A IHCRAPT .Filed$1112... 1929 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 15, 1930 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CARL E. JOHNSON, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR TOBOEING AIRPLANE COMPANY, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON INSTRUMENT PANEL FORAIRCRAFT Application filed July 2, 1929. Serial No. 375,439.

ad'ustin or settin said instruments for a t! D predetermined attitude offlight, whereby after reaching such attitude, any deviation therefromwill be quickly noticed as the indicating hands on the instruments movewith respect to the original setting of the instruments.

Another object of the invention is the provision of new and novel meansof rotatably mounting the instruments on the panel to permit ofeasyrotation, but at the same time arresting the instruments against allexcept intentional movement, and this same means providing a cushionedsupport for the instruments. I

Another object of the invention is the application of luminous paint orthe like to the hands and numerals of the instruments, andinterconnecting said instruments with a straight line of said luminouspaint or the like for convenience in night flying.

These and other objects will appear as my invention is more fullyhereinafter described in the following specification, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1, is a front View of the instrument panel as viewed from theoperators cockpit.

Figure 2, is an edgewise plan view of Figure 1, looking in the directionof the arrow in Figure 1. i

Figure 3, is an enlarged sectional view of the instrument housing,partly in section,

- showing particularly the means for rotatably mounting the instruments.

Figure 4, is a rear view of Figure 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings:

Reference numeral 1, indicates a usual instrument panel mounted in thepilots compartment of an airplane. ably 'apertured as at 1, to receivevarious types of flightinstruments, such for instance as the air-speedindicator, generally indicated at 2, the climb indicator at 3, the ta-The panel is suit- HEISS'UED chometer at 4, and the altimeter at 5. Allof these instruments are identical with each other, as far as theirshape and size are concerned, and as the method of rotatably mountingthem on the panel is the same in each instrument, a description of oneinstrument and its mounting will suffice for all.

The body of the instrument, indicated at 5", is cylindrical in shape andformed with an annular enlargement 6 to which is made integral aring-gear 7. The body of the instrument is presented to the aperture 1from the rear of the panel and advanced therethrough until the annularenlargement 6 abuts the panel. At the same time the front face of theinstrument abuts a retaining ring 7 which is secured to the panelbymeans of bolts'8 and nuts 9. r

A hollow cylindrical housing 10 is provided for the instrument and isalso mounted to the panel by means of the bolts 8 and nuts 9. Spacedapart equidistant around the periphery of the housing 10 are a pluralityof rollers 11 formedof resilient material, such as rubher or the like.These rollers are rotatably mounted, by means of pins 12, to upturned'ment permits turning of the instruments by force but preventsunintentional turning.

A pinion gear 14 is fixed at one end of a shaft 15 which is rotatablymounted through the panel. The opposite end of the shaft 14 is providedwith a knob 16 forconvenience in turning the pinion gear. The piniongear is in operative engagement with the ring-gear 7, so that theinstrument can be rotated by merely turning the knob.

In such cases where the instruments are provided with metallic tubularconnections, as shown in Figure 2, portions of rubber hose areinterposed between the instrument and the 61. 91 9f h tube to perm t ofturlllng the initruments without disturbing the metallic tu e. i

On the face of the panel and extending transversely thereof frominstrument to instrument is a straight line of phosphorous paint or anyother suitable luminous material as indicated at 17. The numerals on theface of each instrument and also the indicating hands are likewisetreated with the luminous material for convenience in night flying.

Before making a flight, the instruments are set to indicateapredetermined attitude of flight, for example, as shown in Figure l,the predetermined air speed will be 90 miles per hour as shown by theair-speed indicator. The revolutions per minute of the engine will be1650 as shown by the tachometer. The altimeter will beset at thepredetermined altitude. The climb indicator of course is alwaysindicating neutral in level flight regardless of speed, altitude orengine speed. It therefore needs no adjustment except if the pilotshould want to set the instrument to indicate a certain rate of climb.The time interval of a climbing rate would only be a matter ofminutesand upon reaching the desired altitude the instrument would be turnedagain to indicate neutral or zero.

lVhen the airplane is at rest on the field, the indicating hands oftheinstruments point downwardly by gravity. The instruments are thenrotated independently of the hands until the luminous strips 17 on thepanel register with the indicating marks on the dial of the instrument.Then as the airplane leaves the ground the indicating hands start toregister; finally when the predetermined attitude of flight is reachedthe indicating hands will come into alignment with the luminous strip17, as shown in Figure 1, then any deviation in flight from thatattitude will be quickly noticed as all the hands will either moveupwardly or downwardly from the strips. For example, if the airplanestarted to climb the air-speed would be reduced, therefore the hand onthe air-speed indicator would move upwardly. The climb indicator wouldalso indicate a climb byits hand moving upwardly. The tachometer wouldshow a decrease of engine revolutions per minute, and the altimeterwould show an increase in altitude. If, of course, the airplane woulddive, the hands on the instruments would obviously move downwardly.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention I amaware that many minor changes therein might readily suggest themselvesto others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scopeofmy invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is .1. An instrument panel for aircraftcomprising a plurality of flight indicating instrumarks on said paneland means for adjusting said instruments with respect to saidindicatingmarks,said means comprising a housing for rotatably supportingsaid instruments and means external of the panel for rotative engagementwith the instruments- 4. An instrument panel for aircraft comprising aplurality of flight indicating instruments rotatably mounted to saidpanel within housings which are fixed to the panel, rotatable resilientmeans between the housing and said instrument.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CARL s. JOHNSON.

